Application of ALARP cost-benefit analysis to hospital-based radiation protection

Kotre, Colin John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-1160 (2022) Application of ALARP cost-benefit analysis to hospital-based radiation protection. Journal of Radiological Protection, 42 (4). 041509. Item availability may be restricted.

PDF - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 29 November 2023. Available under License CC BY-NC Download (127kB)

Abstract

The UK Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 require employers to restrict radiation doses to their employees and the public to be As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). This article looks at the boundary between what might be considered to be reasonable and unreasonable in protecting staff and the general public in the field of hospital-based diagnostic radiology. Guidance on cost-benefit analysis in support of ALARP has been used to formulate relationships for the estimation of the cost at which a radiation protection intervention is no longer ALARP. These relationships allow for a direct link between a reduction in radiation exposure and the maximum ALARP cost of intervention. Application of the approach to hospital-based radiation protection situations show that the ALARP cost limits for protecting radiation workers against the residual risks in the hospital environment are relatively low. Conversely, the ALARP limit to investment in public dose reduction by means of reducing patient doses can be very high.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Journal of Radiological Protection
Publisher:	IOP Publishing
ISSN:	1361-6498
Departments:	Institute of Health > Medical Sciences
Additional Information:	C.J. Kotre Ph.D FBIR, Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Health, University of Cumbria, UK.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	05 Dec 2022 11:16
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2023 10:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6728